Abstract
The variable use of UNO ‘one’ and YO ‘I’ is examined among several speakers of distinct Spanish varieties in New Jersey and New York. Based on a small-scale study, the findings here depart from the perspective that UNO ‘one’ is merely an indefinite and generic pronoun. An exhaustive examination of the linguistic contexts in which the so-called indefinite UNO appears indicates that it alternates with the first person, Yo, the second person specific and non-specific informal tú, and deferential usted. This study centers on identifying several of the linguistic and social variables that mediate the use of UNO and examines the alternation between UNO and YO in two types of discourse: oral narratives of personal experience and therapeutic motivational interviews between a therapist and client. A finding among 12 bilingual speakers of the Puerto Rican, Mexican, Dominican, Colombian, Cuban and Uruguayan Spanish varieties suggests that the varying alternations between and UNO and YO are conditioned by discourse-pragmatic and social variables, not by the speaker’s distinct Spanish variety. The study reveals among other findings that the use of UNO is conditioned by the semantic clause type, the semantic verb type, the speakers’ age, and discourse type.
Published Version
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